A July Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closings

After a five-year run in Culver City, the eccentric Japanese maid cafe/art gallery Royal/T closed in late July, celebrating its final days with tea ceremonies and pop-ups. "It was successful beyond my imagination," says owner Susan Hancock, who plans to take her brand on the road with pop-ups in New York City and various locations throughout the country. "If the right partner came to me about opening up a new space, I would consider it," says Hancock, who is grateful for her loyal patrons who waited hours to be seated during their last weeks, as well as curators and exhibitors through the years. Fans can track future Royal/T happenings through their Facebook and Twitter pages.

Also recently closed in the neighborhood is Café Livre. Owners executive chef Farid Zadi and his wife, director of operations Susan Park, have re-emerged at Spanish Fly, a new gastropub in Koreatown. Partnering with owners Gene and David Park, they're revamping the menu of what briefly was the Green Bee Restaurant and Bar. Many of Café Livre's specialties are on the new menu, including duck confit, hot and cold tapas, a cheese and salumi selection and Zadi's paella.

In opening news, downtown L.A.'s newest gastropub, The Parish opened. And earlier this month, a several-times-over reincarnated Laurel Hardware emerged in West Hollywood. The new owners kept the name in tribute to the homey spirit of the original store.

Coming soon is a second location of The Oinkster, which will occupy the former Sushi Hiroba on Vine Street between Melrose and Santa Monica Blvd. "A friend of mine pointed it out to me because he used to hang out at Lou," says owner Andre Guerrero. "He knew I was looking for a spot, and said 'Andre you gotta check this place out. I could see an Oinkster here.'"